Hospital ups push for heart unit

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), Joe Gould THE NEWS-TIMES

Published
12:00 am EST, Sunday, April 4, 2004

DANBURY - In September, doctors at Danbury Hospital told the wife of the Rev. Preston J. Tallman that blood from his aorta was bleeding into his body. He likely would die without immediate care, but the state did not allow the hospital to offer the necessary heart surgery.

Hospitals that did offer it would not take him. "Yale said no. Hartford said no. Even Westchester County said no," said Tallman. "They thought 'He isn't going to make it, why bother?'"

On Saturday, Tallman was alive to tell the tale. Fortunately or by divine providence, he said,
Massachusetts General Hospital
was playing host to a seminar on aortas. He survived a four-hour helicopter ride, and had a nationally known cardiac doctor operate on him.

Tallman addressed an assemblage of hospital staff and state legislators at Danbury Hospital's Cardiac Awareness Expo, part of a push from the hospital and local lawmakers to legalize open heart surgery and angioplasty at the hospital.

Tallman, a stately black preacher with salt and pepper hair, apologized for becoming emotional as he spoke. While Tallman stayed in an intensive care unit in Boston for two months, he said, his wife Patricia endured many long drives to visit him.

"It is probable that we would not have had to go through all this, if the cardiac care I needed was provided here," said Tallman.

Saturday's expo, which included several heart health displays, was intended to enlist more of the public's support for health officials and town leaders who believe the procedures are vital to community health and the care of heart attack patients.

"Roughly 20 percent of Connecticut citizens are under-served, many of which live in this area," said Dr.
Andrew Keller
, the hospital's interim chief of cardiology. "We estimate conservatively 300,000 patients living near Danbury in Western Connecticut and Eastern New York do not have access to timely care."

Only seven hospitals - in Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport, and Farmington - offer the procedures. Danbury Hospital recently finalized it's application to expand it's offerings to OCHA, which regulates the services hospitals can offer in the state.

Community hospitals treat heart attacks by using drugs to break up the clots that block the flow of blood to the heart. If this proves unsuccessful, they must move patients by ambulance or helicopter to one of the urban hospitals that provide advanced cardiac care.

The state has maintained over the years that to offer patients the best possible cardiac care, the care should be centered in large hospitals that treat a large volume of patients.

State Rep.
Mary Ann Carson
, who supports expanded cardiac care, said the local delegation has had a tough time matching its lobbying efforts against those of hospitals that already perform the procedures. Those hospitals argue expanding cardiac care at community hospitals would hurt the quality of those procedures.

"I'm concerned about quality issues as well," said Carson, a Republican who represents New Fairfield and part of New Milford. "However, Danbury Hospital's application is a solid application."

Until OHCA announces the hearing dates on Danbury Hospital's application, the hospital is asking people in the area to write letters to The Office of the Commissioner,
Office of Health Care Access
, MS#13HCA, PO Box 340308, Hartford. CT. 06134-0308. Send a duplicate copy to Danbury Hospital,
Community Relations Department
, 24 Hospital Ave., Danbury, CT 06810.

People can also sign a petition by going to the hospital's Web site - - and clicking on the "Sign the Web Petition" next to the red heart logo.